Public Notice 15 DAY PUBLIC NOTICE

Transcription

1 US Army Corps of Engineers New England District 696 Virginia Road Concord, MA Public Notice In Reply Refer to: Programs and Project Management Division Date: September 24, 2015 Comment Period Closes: October 8, DAY PUBLIC NOTICE AMENDMENT1 MAINTENANCE DREDGING OF ROCK AND HARD PACKED SAND FROM THE PAWCATUCK RIVER, LITTLE NARRAGANSETT BAY, AND WATCH HILL COVE FEDERAL NAVIGATION PROJECT STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT & WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, plans to perform maintenance dredging of the Pawcatuck River, Little Narragansett Bay, and Watch Hill Cove Federal Navigation Project in Stonington, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island. Attachment No. 1 lists pertinent laws, regulations, and directives. A 30 day Public Notice for this project was issued on August 24, This amendment is being issued to expand the window in which the work will be completed. Amended Project Description: The section of 10-foot-deep MLLW by 100-foot-wide entrance channel of Little Narragansett Bay FNP (Attachment 2) near Fisher Island Sound extending to an area west of Wequetequock Cove was dredged during November and December of 2014 with a cutterhead pipeline dredge, but the dredge could not remove hard packed sand and rocks which are still limiting the channel depth. The proposed work involvesmaintenance dredging of up to 2,600 cubic yards (cy) of hard packed sand and approximately 750 to 1,000 cy of rock and cobble material from this section of the project (see Attachment 3.) The rocks are a navigational hazard at lower stages of the tide. The proposed rock removal and dredging will remove hard packed sand and rocks from approximately 34,600 square feet (SF) (12,600 SF rock and 22,000 SF sand areas) of the authorized project area. Dredging will be performed with a mechanical dredge, the Government owned "Snell." The Government owned special purpose hopper dredge "Currituce will be used as the scow. The rock material (with some sand) will be placed adjacent to rock outcroppings off of the Maschaug area of Westerly, approximately 6 miles from the channel, seaward of the 30 feet depth contour. Scows containing primarily sand will transit to a nearshore site off of 1 Text in BOLD indicates amendment to original Public Notice. 1

2 Misquamicut Beach for placement (see Attachment 4). The work will take place over a three week period. The exact dates of work will depend on the availability of government dredging equipment and will occur sometime between October 1, 2015 through December 31, The decision whether to perfoim the work will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, will be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors, which may be relevant to the proposal, will be considered; among these are conservation, economics, general environmental concerns, historic values, fish and wildlife values, flood damage prevention, land use classification, aesthetics, and the welfare of the people. Any person who has an interest that may be affected by the dredging and disposal of this dredged material may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing to me within 15 days of the date of this notice and must clearly set forth the interest that may be affected and the manner in which the interest may be affected by this activity. Please bring this notice to the attention of anyone you know to be interested in this project. Comments are invited from all interested parties and should be directed to: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA , ATTN: Daniel Stenstream; or ed to nae-pn-nav@usace.army.mil within 15 days of this notice. /0 Date Chri IMF Barron Co oriel, Corps of Engineers D'strict Engineer Attachments 2

3 PERTINENT LAWS, REGULATIONS, AND DIRECTIVES Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C et. seq.) Clean Water Act, as amended (33 U.S.C et. seq.) Code of Federal Regulations, Title 33, Parts 230 and 335 through 338 Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982, as amended (16 U.S.C et seq.) Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 [16 U.S.C. 1456(c)(1) and (2)], Sections 307(c)(1) and (2) Endangered Species Act of 1973 as amended (16 U.S.C. 668aa-668cc) Estuary Protection Act (16 U.S.C et. seq.) Federal Water Project Recreation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C et. seq.) Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C c) Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, as amended (16 U.S.C et seq.) Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 Migratory Marine Game-Fish Act (16 U.S.C. 760c-760g) National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C ) National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470) Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management, 24 May 1977 Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands, 24 May 1977 Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low Income Populations, 11 February 1994 Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, 21 April 1997 Attachment 1 3

4 UPSTREAM WI F FEDERAL PROJECT 0 E \ SLAND 121. or 0 rh z *IP imag, r flo f. so 4 PAWCATUCK RIVER LITTLE NAPPAGANSE77 BAY WATCH HILL COVE LOCATION MAP 0 6.,66 10-FOOT OIdANNEL 10-ROOT CHANAEL FISHERS ISLAND SOUND 10-FOOT CHANNEL LITTLE ARRAGANSETT ' 1' BAY 10-FOOT CHANNEL 100 ;4' eel z \ft PAWCATUCK RIVER, LITTLE NARRAGENSETT BAY AND WATCH HILL COVE RHODE ISLAND & CONNECTICUT 3 MARCH 2008 Z llatuq 3U/W NAPA.R E 10-FOOT ANCHORAGE BASIN WATCH HILL , ,000 A000 J.. Feet MAIIPILtr Nve

5 =Limit a Federal Navigation Project I I Hard Packed Sand US Army Corps of Engineers New England District LITTLE NARRAGANSETT BAY MAINTENANCE DREDGING PROJECT ROCK AND HARD PACKED SAND AREAS Feel NAIPAenal Imagery 1:4,000 Attachment 3

6 DIPINC OfOLOOC RAG - - t33 g;; ts :: etas {PH , 04,1 YAWLS. of Rock Placement A ' 32.3" N ' 59.7" W B 41 18' 34.4" N 71 49' 56.9" W C 41 18' 35.9" N 71 50' 00.1" W D 41 18' 34.0" N 71 50' 03.0"W BENING GEOLOGIC HABITATS of the WATCH HILL MISQUAMICUT SHOREFACE, WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND Jon C , Bryan& Ool.y. and C. TroOlosky z onoodooyo.o... LIPLIIMATON Mill ot no. no...mono. JoIo.ono.o, ono. Sand Placement a 41 19' 09.7" N 71 48' 474" W b 41 19' 06.2" N 71 49' 06.4" W c 41 19' 09.7" N 71 48' 47.4" W d 41 19' 06.2" N " W Sand Placement Area PON Rock Placement * Map is a modification of Plate 2 from Boothroyd, Oakley and Troskosky (2009). Attachment 4 a